Kinder Morgan’s desperate Hail Mary shouldn’t fool anyone

Trans Mountain expansion a pipeline to nowhere, say First Nations and community leaders

BURNABY — Facing determined opposition from First Nations and B.C. communities, 19 lawsuits against the Trans Mountain expansion project, a majority of provincial MLAs opposed and a narrow window to begin construction, Kinder Morgan today announced a positive final investment decision – before even raising the money necessary to build.

“This company was founded from the ashes and rubble of Enron, a company synonymous with scandal, corporate fraud and bankruptcy,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. “Today these same reckless cowboys are trying to convince gullible investors to plow cash into a pipeline they know will never be built.”

Kinder Morgan is hoping to raise C$1.75 billion next week through an initial public offering, after failing to find a partner, bank or institutional investor willing to share the risk. The company has yet to finalize the route of the pipeline, fulfill dozens of federal conditions or obtain essential provincial permits – a feat they know will be difficult with the Green Party now holding the balance of power in the legislature.

“Influential advisors are warning investors: do not invest a penny in this dead project,” said Sophie Harrison, coordinator of the long-running No Tankers campaign. “Today Kinder Morgan is bluffing, but our movement isn’t. We have all the legal and political tools we need to stop this risky pipeline and tanker project.”

The Public Health Association of B.C. notes that Kinder Morgan’s proposal has never undergone a comprehensive public health impact assessment.

“They’ve skipped many steps,” said Harrison. “But the lack of a public health plan may be their Achilles’ heel. If Kinder Morgan tries to push ahead with a project we know will put the health of First Nations and local communities in jeopardy, the province of B.C. has the power to force a public health review and stop construction.”

“We will do whatever is necessary to shut down Kinder Morgan in our territories,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip. “That means Indigenous land rights lawsuits, land defence strategies and environmental stewardship legislation. We’re ready for all three. Now the question is, do investors have the stomach for a protracted, losing battle?”

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About UBCIC:

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs was founded in 1969 to fight Canada’s White Paper and to defend Indigenous Title, Rights & Treaty Rights.

About Dogwood:

Dogwood is B.C.’s largest non-partisan citizen group, uniting more than 260,000 supporters in the province against oil tanker expansion on the West Coast.

Keep up the good work – this proposed project is a calamity in the offing, and everyone knows that it would just fill the pockets of GREEDY investors, with British Columbians left a mess impossible to clean up. eg. Exxon Valdez in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

Don’t let them silence you. Submit your comment by fax to the NEB’s oil tanker review. Look. This thing is clearly rigged. And they are trying to suppress public participation. So let’s flood ’em with letters. Again. Last month, the National Energy Board announced a one-week comment period on the scope of their new review. […]

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